Method and device for supplying sliver to a spinner machine

ABSTRACT

A sliver is intermittently introduced into a sliver guide conduit disposed at a position corresponding to each spinning unit in an over feeding condition. The sliver guide conduit comprises an upright portion and a substantially horizontal portion provided with a bottom delivery aperture formed below a feed mechanism of the spinning unit. To prevent an irregular draft of the sliver in the conduit, obstruction means which inhibits free downward displacement of the sliver may be disposed in the upright conduit portion. The horizontal conduit portion is inclined a little upward so that overflow of the sliver from the bottom aperture can be prevented.

United States Patent [191 Takeuchi et a1.

METHOD AND DEVICE FOR SUPPLYING SLIVER TO A SPINNER MACHINE Inventors:

Assignee:

Filed:

Appl. No.:

Tatuo Takeuchi, Aichi-ken; Tunehiko Tuge, Kariya; Kozo Motobayashi,Aichi-ken, all of Japan Kabushiki Kaisha Toyoda ,Iidoshokki Seisakusho,Aichi-ken, Japan June 28, 1973 Foreign Application Priority Data Japan48-49825 May 7, 1973 US. Cl 57/36, 57/90, 57/156 Int. Cl D01g 1/06, DOlg23/00 Field of Search 57/l R, 34 R, 36, 90, 106, 57/113, 156; 19/66References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/1931 Schneider 57/106 X [4 1June 18, 1974 1,893,809 l/l933 Stone et a1 57/36 3,070,948 H1963 Tsuzuki..57/36 3,448,571 6/1969 Tsuzuki.... 57/36 3,564,829 2/l97l Tsuzuki..57/36 Primary ExaminerDonald E. Watkins 21 Claims, 13 Drawing FiguresPHENTEDJM 18 B74 SHEU t [If 5 METHOD AND DEVICE FOR SUPPLYING SLIVER TOA SPINNER MACHINE BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE INVENTION The presentinvention relates to a method and device for supplying sliver to aspinning machine; more particularly, the invention relates to a methodand device for supplying sliver to a ring spinning frame or a ringlessspinning frame so as to attain a large package effect thereupon.

It is well known that the so-called large package system has beenpositively applied to the spinning process so as to reduce theproduction cost. Because of the continuing trend of increased laborcosts, the large package system has been increasingly applied in thespinning process.

For example, a very large packaged sliver can is disposed at a frontside or back side or above each spinning unit of a spinning frame and asliver is positively taken up from the can by means of a pair of griprollers which are driven at a speed synchronous with the supply speed ofa feed roller of the spinning unit, and the sliver is then supplied tothe spinning unit by way of a guide roller. However, based on ourexperience in mill operations, as the sliver is firstly taken up upwardfrom the cans by means of the take up rollers and then is carrieddownward so as to introduce it to the guide roller, the effect of thetotal weight of the free sliver, which has passed through the griprollers, is concentrated at a sliver portion where the sliver leaves thebottom grip roller. Consequently, a portion of the sliver which haspassed through the grip roller receives a load due to the sliver weightso that an irregular draft is created in this sliver portion. If theabove-mentioned load is too large, the sliver may be broken. If theabove-mentioned irregular draft or breaking of sliver can not beprevented, the quality of yarn produced from the abovementioned sliveris lowered and the production cost may be increased.

The principal object of the present invention is to eliminate theabove-mentioned drawbacks of the con ventional sliver supply. system,even if very large packaged sliver-cans are utilized.

A further object of the present invention it to provide a novel devicefor supplying a sliver to each spinning unit of a spinning machinewhereby the troublesome manual operation can be eliminated.

To attain the purpose of the present invention, the following basicprinciples are applied.

1. The sliver cans are arranged on a floor disposed behind or above thespinning machine.

2. Sliver take up means is disposed above each spinning unit of thespinning machine so as to take up a sliver from a corresponding slivercan and to supply the sliver to the spinning unit.

3. A guide conduit is disposed between the sliver take up means and afeed roller of a spinning unit. The guide conduit comprises asubstantially upright portion provided with a top aperture, and asubstantially horizontal portion provided with a bottom aperture, and aportion connecting the upright portion with the horizontal portion.

Mr. Ryohei Tsuzuki proposed the utilization of the upright guide tubefor supplying sliver to each spinning unit in the U8. Pat. No.3,448,571. However, in the practical device of the present invention,particular considerations are paid to prevent the drawbacks of the knownsliver supply system utilizing the sliver guide conduit such as theabove-mentioned guide tube. That is, in the present invention, thesliver contained in the sliver can is intermittently fed into the sliverconduit from the top aperture thereof by the take up means, and thesliver introduced into the sliver conduit is temporarily reserved in atleast one reserve portion formed in the sliver conduit so as to preventcreation of an irregular draft due to the slivers own weight. Therefore,the take up means of the present invention has a capacity for overfeeding the sliver into the sliver guide conduit. According to outrepeated operational tests, it was found that if an upright sliverconduit is applied and the sliver is reserved in the guide condluit,there is a certain tendency of the sliver to overflow at the bottomaperture of the guide conduit. If the sliver overflows at the bottomaperture of the sliver becomes conduit, the sliver entangled so that anirregular draft or breakage of the sliver is inevitable. Mr. Tsuzukiproposed applying a positive means such as a turnable stopper or shutterpiece which prevents the above-mentioned overflowing of the sliver.However, the utilization of this positive means is doubtful because, itis necessary to overcome the working force of the positive means whenthe sliver is delivered from the bottom aperture of the sliver guideconduit whereby the sliver is apt to be drafted irregularly, if theabove-mentioned working force is strong. In the present invention, toprevent the above-mentioned overflowing of the sliver from the bottomaperture, a substantially horizontal guide portion is formed at thebottom portion of the conduit. Based on our practical tests, it wasfound that the disposition of the above-mentionedhorizontal guideportion is desirable to slightly incline from a horizontal line so as todispose the bottom aperture at a slightly higher position than theconnecting position formed between the upright portion and thehorizontal portion of the guide conduit.

Further, for the sake of easy handling of sliver when the sliver isprepared for feeding the spinning unit, it is preferable to use thehorizontal portion of the guide conduit which is turnably mounted on theconnecting portion of the guide conduit, if the horizontal guide portionis disposed so as to be slightly inclined as mentioned above.

According to utilization of the above-mentioned device, the sliver canbe supplied to the respective spinning units smoothly without anyirregular draft or breakage.

BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of aringless spinning machine utilizing a sliver supply device according tothe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic elevation of a plurality of sliver cans mounted ona floor above the ringless spinning machine shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3A is a schematic side view, partly in section, of an uppermechanism of the sliver supply device according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 3B is a schematic sectional side view of a sliver guide conduitutilized in the sliver supply device according to the present invention;

FIG. 3C is a cross-sectional view of a sliver supply conduit taken alonga line IlIC-IIIIC, shown in FIG. 3A;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a bottom portion of a modifiedsliver guide conduit according to the present invention;

FIG. A is a cross-sectional view of a top portion of a modified sliverguide conduit according to the present invention;

FIG. 5B is a lateral cross-sectional view of the sliver guide conduit,taken along a line VB-VB shown in FIG. 5A;

FIG. 6A is a cross-sectional view of a further modified sliver guideconduit according to the present invention;

FIG. 6B is a lateral cross-sectional view of the sliver guide conduit,taken along a line VIBVIB, shown in FIG. 6A;

FIG. 6C is a schematic side view of a device for controlling the motionof the take up device according to the present invention;

FIGS. 7A, 7B are cross-sectional views of still further modified sliverguide conduits according to the present invention.

DETAILED ILLUSTRATION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION Referring to FIGS. 1 and2, wherein a ringless spinning frame adapted to a sliver supplyingdevice accord ing to the present invention is shown, a plurality oflarge packaged sliver cans 3 are arranged on a platform 2 formed abovethe ringless spinning frame I. The sliver cans 3 are arranged atpositions corresponding to dispositions of the spinning units la. Asliver guide conduit 5 is disposed at a position corresponding to eachspinning unit la.

The sliver guide conduit 5 comprises an upright portion 5b provided witha top aperture 50, and a substantially horizontal portion 50 providedwith a bottom aperture 5d at a position just below a stationary guiderod 4 of the spinning unit la, and a curved portion connecting theupright portion 5b with the horizontal portion 5c. The upright portion5b of the conduit 5 passes through the platform 2 and extends downwardto a bottom portion of the spinning unit Ia along a backside of thespinning unit la. The horizontal portion 50 passes below the spinningunit Ia.

This horizontal portion 50 of the conduit 5 is preferably inclinedupward from the connecting portion, as shown in FIG. I, so that aresistance to an excess output of sliver from the bottom aperture 5d ofthe conduit 5, is created. It is also permitted to use a rotatable guideroller instead of the guide rod 4. If it is necessary to arrange thesliver cans 3 before each spinning unit la, the sliver guide conduit 5may be disposed in front of each spinning unit la. However, in thiscase, the horizontal portion 5c of the sliver guide conduit 5 isrequired to pass proximately above a floor upon which the spinningmachine is installed, so as to allow free passage of an operator orcarriages in front of the spinning machine. A sliver take up deviceprovided with a take up roller 7 is disposed just above the top aperture5a of sliver guide conduit 5. This take up roller 7 is positively drivenby a driving means (not shown) at a higher peripheral speed than thefeed speed of a feed roller (not shown) of each spinning unit la.

A suitable driving mechanism may be utilized as the above-mentioneddriving means, such as for example a chain drive mechanism whichtransmits the driving power of a main driving motor of the spinningmachine I, or a driving mechanism provided with a certain reduction gearmechanism driven by a separate motor disposed on the platform 2.However, in the both cases, it is essential to positively drive the takeup roller at a particular peripheral speed as mentioned above. If thetake up roller 7 is tumable mounted on a supporting shaft 7a thereof andresistance of the turning of the roller 7 about the shaft 7a is verylow, it is possible to take up the sliver from the sliver cans 3 only bythe weight of sliver in the sliver guide conduit 5. Also applicable is apair of take up rollers comprising a positively driven roller and aroller always urged against the positively driven roller so that asliver from the sliver cans 3 is always taken up according to the gripof the abovementioned two rollers. In this case, it is necessary tocontrol the rotating motion of the take up roller so as to satisfy theabove-mentioned intermittent supply motion. The detailed mechanism ofthis type take up roller mechanism is hereinafter illustrated in detail.

A yarn produced by a spinning unit la is taken up by a pair of take uprollers lb and is wound as a yarn package ld by means of a windingroller 1c. Consequently, a sliver 8 contained in the cans 3 is taken upfrom the cans 3 by the take up roller 7 and then fed into the sliverguide conduit 5 through the top aperture 5a. When the sliver 8 is takenup by the roller 7, the sliver 8 is introduced into an annular guidegroove 7b of the roller 7 in such a way that the sliver 8 is beltedthereon. Consequently, the sliver 8 is displaced together with thecontact surface of the groove 7b of the roller 7 which is positivelydriven.

The sliver 8, which is introduced into the sliver guide conduit 5 fromthe top aperture 5a, is then'moved downward by way of the uprightportion 5b of the conduit 5, and further moved through the horizontalportion 5c and finally taken up from the bottom aperture 5d of theconduit 5, and fed to a feed mechanism (not shown) of the spinning unitIa. As the sliver passage formed in the conduit 5 curves at theconnecting portion between the upright portion 5b and the horizontalportion 5c and the feed speed of the take up roller 7 is higher than thefeed speed of the sliver 8 into the spinning unit la, the sliverintroduced into the conduit 5 is gradually reserved in the uprightportion 5b. According to a resilient property of the sliver 8 andfrictional contact of the sliver 8 with the inside wall of the conduit5, the sliver 8 in the upright portion 5b of the conduit 5 passestherein in zig-zag or spiral form. As already illustrated, in thepresent invention, it is necessary to eliminate the undesirableirregular draft of sliver and to prevent overflowing of the sliver atthe bottom aperture 5d of the conduit 5. To attain this purpose,particular considerations are paid to the sliver guide conduit 5.

The sliver guide conduit 5 shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B is an embodimenthaving an extremely simple construction. The top aperture 5a, uprightportion 5b and the horizontal portion 5c are provided with a cylindricalinside wall as shown in FIG. 3C. The take up roller 7 is rigidlymountedon a shaft 7a disposed above the top aperture 5a of the sliver guideconduit 5. The shaft 7a is positively driven by a driving means (notshown) so as to drive the take up roller 7v at a higher peripheral speedthan the speed for feeding the sliver 8 into the spinning unit la. Thesliver 8 prepared in the can 3 is introduced into the top aperture 5a ofthe sliver guide conduit 5 by way of the annular groove 7b of the takeup roller 7; then the sliver 8 passes by its own weight downward throughthe upright portion 5b and arrives at the curved connecting portion ofthe conduit 5. As already illustrated, the sliver 8 is apt to bereserved in the upright portion 5b in a zig-zag or spiral form even ifthe delivery of sliver 8 from the bottom aperture 5d is continued at apredetermined constant speed. The stored quantity of sliver 8 isgradually increased. And when the above-mentioned stored sliver in theupright portion 5b reaches a position adjacent to the top aperture 5a ofthe conduit 5, the friction of the sliver 8 against the annular groove7b of the take up roller 7 is considerably reduced. This is because ofthe downward force of the portion of sliver contacting the annulargroove 7b, which is due to the weight of sliver below the roller 7, isreduced to a force resulting from only the weight of the sliver abovethe reserved sliver in the conduit 5. In the condition where thereserved sliver in the upright portion 5b reaches the proximity of thetop aperture 5a, the downward force of the sliver 8 against the take uproller 7 becomes very small thereby stopping the taking up motion ofsliver 8 from the can 3 by the positive rotation of the take up roller7. In this condition, the roller 7 is rotating but the sliver 8 isslipping upon the annular groove 7b. It can be interpreted that, whenthe dynamic frictional force F between the sliver 8 and the annulargroove 7b of the roller 7 is sufficiently large to displace the sliver 8together with the annular groove 7b of the roller 7, the roller 7 takesup the sliver 8 from the can 3, even if a certain slip between thesliver 8 and the annular groove 7b exists. The larger the effectiveweights 1,, of slivers at feed and delivery sides of the annular grooves7b of the take up roller 7 are, which apply to the contact points C Cthe larger the dynamic frictional force F becomes. The effective weight1, corresponds to the weight of sliver 8 hanging from the contact pointC, into the upright portion 5b of the conduit 5, and does not involvethe weight ofsliver 8 which is reserved in a zig-zag or spiral form inthe upright portion 5b. lf the length of the above-mentioned hangingsliver 8 is 5 meters, and the weight ofsliver is 60 g/m, t, is 300 g. Onthe other hand, 1 represents the length of sliver between the contactpoint C; and a position where the sliver 8 leaves the block of sliverscontained in the can 3, (for the sake of illustration, theabove-mentioned sliver is hereinafter referred to as a free sliver), tvaries according to the length 1 of the free sliver. The length I of thefree sliver varies according to the consumption of the material sliverprepared in the can 3. And, when the dynamic frictional force Fovercomes the weight 1 of the free sliver 8, the sliver 8 in the can 3is taken up by the dynamic frictional force F from the can 3.Consequently, at the beginning of the spinning operation, the sliver 8is introduced into the sliver guide conduit 5 by the take up roller 7 inthe overfeeding condition so that the overfed portion of the sliver 8goes into reserve in the upright portion 5b of the conduit 5 in thezigzag or spiral form. The effective weight I, is gradually loweredaccording to the increasing quantity of the reserved sliver in theconduit 5, during the spinning operation.

Therefore, the effective weight t, becomes smaller so that the dynamicfrictional force F becomes smaller which createsa slip between thesliver 8 and the annular groove 7b of the take up roller 7. And in theextreme condition where the top portion of the reserved sliver reaches aposition close the top aperture 5a of the conduit 5, the effectiveweight I becomes very small and, as a result, the dynamic frictionalforce F becomes so small that the sliver 8 cannot be pulled from the can3. In this condition, the quantity of the reserved sliver 8 in a zig-zagor spiral form is decreased because of the continuous delivery of sliver8 from thebottom aperture 5d of the conduit 5, and the effective weightI, is thereby increased so that the dynamic frictional force F is alsoelevated. When force F overcomes the effective weight of the freesliver, the sliver 8 is again introduced into the conduit 5 by thepositive turning motion of the take up roller 7. As illustratedhereinbefore, the sliver supply motion is carried out intermittently.Therefore, the possible irregular draft of sliver due to excess weightof the sliver can be desirably prevented.

The sliver 8 is continuously taken up from the conduit 5 by way of thebottom aperture 5d at a constant speed and then fed to the spinning unitla. However, when a certain quantity of sliver 8 is stored in theupright portion 5b of the conduit 5 as shown in FIGS. 3A and 38, thisstored sliver urges the sliver positioned at the curved connectingportion of the conduit 5 so that the sliver positioned in the horizontalportion of the conduit 5 receives a certain pressure by which the sliveris forced out from the bottom aperture 5d. Several methods to preventthis trouble have been adopted in the present invention. One of them wasachieved by the particular arrangement of the horizontal portion 5c ofthe conduit 5. In this particular arrangement of the horizontal portion5c, the longitudinal axis thereof is inclined from an actual horizontalline in such a way that the bottom aperture 5d is positioned a littlehigher than the bottom of the curved portion of conduit 5. It is alsohelpful to use a shutter piece 5e turnably disposed to an upper edge ofthe bottom aperture 5d as shown in H0. 4. As already discussed, it ispreferable to use a shutter piece 5e which does not require a strongturning force which may create an irregular draft of sliver in thesliver passage between the aperture 5d and the feed mechanism of thespinning unit la. If the horizontal portion 56 of the conduit 5 isapplied to the present invention, it is preferable to adopt a horizontalportion 5c which is turnably connected to the curved connecting portionof the conduit 5 in such a way that, at the time of preparing for aspinning operation when the sliver is introduced through the conduit 5,the horizontal portion 50 of the conduit 5 is firstly positioned in ahorizontal condition, and after the front end of the sliver is passedthrough the bottom aperture 5d of the conduit 5, then the portion 5c ispositioned in the above-mentioned inclined condition. Therefore,introduction of the sliver through the conduit 5 can be easily carriedout.

It is also useful to adopt a sliver guide conduit 5 provided with aplurality of narrow channels which disturb free downward displacement ofthe sliver by its own weight. According to the application of thissliver guide conduit 5, even if a large quantity of sliver 8 is reservedin the upright portion 5b of the conduit 5, the weight of the storedsliver 8 is partially supported by these channels and consequently thestored sliver 8 in the upright portion 5b of the conduit 5 does not urgethe sliver in the horizontal portion Scjzin other words; the forcing outof the sliver 8 from the bottom aperture 5d can be satisfactorilyprevented.

The above-mentioned applications of channels in the upright conduit areshown in FIGS. 5A, 58, 6A and 6B. Referring to FIGS. 5A and 5B, thesliver guide conduit 5 is provided with a curved guide tube 9 therein.At the top end portion of the conduit 5, a trumpet like portion 9a isformed by the guide tube 9. At least one combination of the gentlysloped portion 9b and steep portion 9c is formed at a portioncorresponding to the upright portion 5b of the conduit 5 in zig-zagcondition. These gently sloped portions work as channels which disturbthe free downward displacement of sliver 8. According to the applicationof the trumpet like inlet and a plurality of channels formed at theportion corresponding to the upright portion 5b of the sliver guideconduit 5, the effective weight r of the sliver 8, which is applied tothe contact point C 1 of the take up roller 7, is dependent upon thesliver 8 above the first gently sloped portion 9b. Therefore, thesurface condition of the annular groove 7!) and the turning speed of thetake up roller 7 must be designed so as to satisfy the principle ofintermittent take up motion of the take up roller 7 hereinbeforedescribed. The sliver 8 introduced into the tube 9 can be stored on thegently sloped portions 9b so that the overflow of sliver 8 from thebottom aperture 5d can be satisfactorily prevented.

Instead of applying the combination of the gentle sloped portion and thesteep portion in the tube 9 of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B,in the modified embodiment shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B a pair of commonupright guide plates 5/1 and 51' are disposed behind the spinning unitsla in parallel condition, and a plurality of dividing plates 5g areinserted in the space between these upright guide plates 5/1 and 51' sothat a plurality of sliver guide conduits 5 are formed at eachcorresponding position to each spinning unit la. In each sliver guideconduit 5, plural pairs of obstruction plates 10 and ll are alternatelysecured to the inside walls of the upright guide plates 511, Si or theinside walls of two facing dividing plates 5g in the upright conduitportion 512, so that a zig-zag curved sliver passage comprising a pluralcombination ofa gentle sloped passage and a steep passage is formed ineach sliver guide conduit 5. The sliver 8 introduced into each sliverguide conduit 5 can be temporarily held in reserve at the gentle slopedpassages so that almost the same effeet as the embodiment shown in FIGS.5A and 58 can be expected. However, because the construction of theguide conduit shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B is simpler than the one shown inFIGS. 5A and 5B, the embodiment shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B can beunderstood as more practical and valuable. In the above-mentionedembodiments, a gentle sloped sliver passage and a steep sloped sliverpassage are alternately formed in the upright portion of the sliverguide conduit or tube. However, a sliver guide passage which involvesonly a plurality of gentle sloped sliver passages or steep sloped sliverpassages so as to form a zig-zag passage, may be applied with almost thesame effect as the abovementioned two embodiments.

Other modified embodiments of sliver guide conduit according to thepresent invention are shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. In these embodiments, theupright portion 5b of the sliver conduit 5 is provided with a pluralityof channels which are formed by narrowing the lateral cross sectionthereof. That is, in FIG. 7, the wall of the conduit 5 is projectedinward at the channel portion thereof. This inward projection 12 ispreferably formed in the shape of an annular projection. However, asshown in FIG. 8, the inward projections 12 may be alternately formed ontwo sides facing each other. As the lateral space of the sliver passagein the upright portion 5b of the conduit 5 is reduced at each channelportion, the sliver 8 introduced into the conduit 5 can be separatelyreserved in the conduit 5 by the obstacle created by these channels sothat almost the same result as the embodiment shown in FIGS. 5A, 5B canbe expected.

In the case of applying a positive feeding mechanism to the presentinvention, it is essential to control the intermittent motion of thepositive feeding mechanism. The sliver guide conduit 5 shown in FIG. 6Aand a positive feeding mechanism shown in FIG. 6C are an example of thiscontrol system. The positive feeding mechanism of this embodimentcomprises a take up roller 15 provided with an annular groove 15a and apressure roller 16 turnably mounted on a shaft 17a so as to engage withthe annular groove ll5a of the take up roller 15. The roller 15 iscontinuously driven by a driving mechanism (not shown). The shaft 17a isrigidly mounted to a supporting lever 17 which is turnably mounted on ashaft 18 secured to the spinning machine. The pressure roller 16 isurged against the annular groove 15a by its own weight so as topositively feed the sliver 8 by the rotation of the take up roller 15.However, if it is required to grip the sliver 8 in a stable manner bythese rollers 15 and I6, a spring loading system 17c may be applied tothe lever l7.

A notch 17b is formed at a free end portion of the lever 17, and asolenoid 19 is disposed above the notch 17b in such a way that asolenoid lever 20 is capable of pushing the notch 17!) downward when thesolenoid is energized. When the solenoid I9 is energized, the solenoidlever 20 pushes the notch 17b downward so that the supporting lever 17turns about the shaft 18 in the clockwise direction. According to thisturning motion, the roller 16 is disengaged from the annular groove 15aof the take up roller 15 so that the positive feeding motion by the takeup roller 15 with the roller 61 is stopped even if the roller 15 iscontinuously driven. As shown in FIG. 6A, a photoelectric devicecomprising a light projector 13 and a photo-cell I4 is disposed at anentrance portion of the sliver guide conduit 5 above the firstobstruction plate 10. The output of this photo-cell I4 is amplified byan amplifier (not shown) and utilized so as to actuate the solenoid 19by applying a suitable electric circuit well known in the art. Theelectrical relation between the solenoid l9 and the abovementionedphotoelectric device is designed as hereinafter illustrated. When thesliver 8 is introduced into the conduit 5 is temporarily held in reservein the conduit 5, and this stored sliver interrupts the light projectedfrom the projector 13 toward the photo-cell 14, the solenoid 19 isactuated. Consequently, the sliver 8 is intermittently introduced intothe conduit 5 by the control action due to the condition of sliverreserve in the conduit 5.

What is claimed is:

1. In a method for supplying a sliver to each spinning unit of aspinning machine by way of a sliver guide conduit disposed at a positioncorresponding to each spinning unit and a take up means, disposed abovesaid sliver conduit, from a receptacle arranged at a position proximatethe arrangement of spinning units, the improvement comprising incombination, taking up a -9 sliver upwardly from said receptaclecontaining a material sliver and intermittently introducing said sliverinto said sliver guide conduit, displacing said introduced sliver insaid sliver guide conduit in a zigzag or spiral condition in said sliverguide conduit while stopping temporarily for a variable time therein,

continuously delivering said introduced sliver from a bottom aperture ofsaid sliver guide conduit with a predetermined constant delivery speedwhich is slower than the speed said sliver is introduced into saidsliver guide conduit.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein said intermittent introductionof sliver is based upon the slipping of the sliver on said take uproller when a certain quantity of sliver is temporarily reserved in saidsliver guide conduit.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein said intermittent introductionof sliver is carried out by temporarily stopping the positive feeding ofthe sliver by said take up roller.

4. A device for supplying sliver to each spinning unit of a spinningmachine from a receptacle disposed behind or above saidspinningmachinery by way of a sliver guide conduit disposed at a positioncorresponding to each spinning unit comprising in combination,

means for introducing said sliver into said sliver guide conduit at aspeed faster than the speed for delivering said sliver from said sliverguide conduit,

said sliver guide conduit comprising a substantially upright portionprovided with a top aperture for receiving said sliver thereinto and asubstantially horizontal portion formed at a downstream portion thereofand a curved portion for connecting said upright portion with saidhorizontal portion, being said horizontal portion provided with a bottomdelivery aperture formed at a terminal thereof; whereby smooth movementof said sliver from said upright portion toward said aperture of saidhorizontal portion is disturbed by said curved portion and thecontinuous introduction of said sliver into said guide conduit istemporarily disturbed.

5. A device according to claim 4, further comprising means fortemporarily interrupting the continuous introduction of said sliver intosaid sliver guide conduit by said introducing means.

6. A device according to claim 4, wherein said introducing meanscomprises a take up roller disposed above said sliver guide conduitwhich is continuously driven by a driving mechanism, at a higherperipheral speed than the speed for feeding sliver into each spinningunit.

7. A device for according to claim 5, wherein said temporarilyinterrupting means comprises a plurality of curved sliver passagesformed in said upright portion of said sliver guide conduit so that thesmooth downward movement of the sliver introduced in said conduit isinterrupted and said introduced sliver is intermittently reserved onsaid interrupting means.

8. A device according to claim 4, wherein said horizontal portion of theconduit is inclined slightly upward so that said bottom deliveryaperture is positioned above the upstream end of said horizontal portionof the conduit.

9. A device according to claim 4, wherein said horizontal portion ofsaid sliver guide conduit is provided with a piece turnably mounted onan upper edge portion of said bottom delivery aperture so that saidbottom aperture is covered by said turn piece.

10. A device according to claim 8, wherein said horizontal portion ofsaid sliver guide conduit is tumably connected to a connecting bottomend portion of said upright portion thereof.

11. A device according to claim 7, wherein said curved sliver passagesare a combined passage comprising pairs of a gentle sloped passage and asteep sloped passage.

12. A device according to claim 5, wherein said temporarilyinterruptionmeans comprises a plurality of inward projections fomied on the insidewall of an upright portion of said sliver guide conduit so that thelateral cross section of said upright portion of said conduit isreduced.

13. A device according to claim 12, wherein the lateral cross section ofsaid conduit is circular and each of said inward projections has theshape of an annular projection formed in a concentric relationship withsaid upright portion of said conduit.

14. A device according to claim 5, wherein said sliver guide conduit hasa rectangular lateral cross section, said interrupting means comprisespairs of projections formed on the inside walls of said conduit in sucha way that one is formed on a first inside wall of said conduit, whilethe other is formed on an inside wall facing said first inside wall.

15. A device according to claim 14, wherein said projection has a slopeformed at upstream side of said conduit.

16. A device according to claim 5, wherein all sliver guide conduits areformed by a pair of guide plates extending along the lengthwisedirection of said spinning machine and facing each other, and aplurality of separation plates which divide the space formed by saidguide plates into a plurality of sliver guide conduits for guiding eachsliver introduced therein to the respective spinning units, each of saidsliver guide conduits is provided with a top aperture formed adjacent tosaid introducing means and with a bottom delivery aperture formedadjacently below the respective spinning units, said interrupting meansformed in each of said sliver guide conduits is a plurality of pairs ofprojections projected from said guide plates or said separation platesso that a curved sliver passage is formed in each sliver guide conduit.

17. A device according to claim 6, wherein said take up roller isprovided with an annular groove for forming a sliver passage.

18. A device according to claim 4', further comprising control means forcontrolling the motion of said sliver introducing means.

19. A device according to claim 18, wherein said sliver introducingmeans comprises a bottom take up roller continuously driven by drivingmeans mounted on said machine and a top roller driven by frictionalcontact with said bottom roller, said control means comprising aphotoelectric detector disposed at a top portion of each sliver guideconduit, said control means releasing said frictional contact of saidtop roller with said bottom take up roller when said photoelectricdetector detects a predetermined sliver reserve condition in saidconduit.

20. A device according to claim 4, further comprising a pair ofcontinuously rotating withdrawing rollers disposed at a positionadjacent to and "below said spinning vided with a top aperture forreceiving said sliver, and a substantially horizontal portion positionedbelow said spinning unit which is provided with a bottom deliveryaperture from where said sliver is delivered.

1. In a method for supplying a sliver to each spinning unit of aspinning machine by way of a sliver guide conduit disposed at a positioncorresponding to each spinning unit and a take up means, disposed abovesaid sliver conduit, from a receptacle arranged at a position proximatethe arrangement of spinning units, the improvement comprising incombination, taking up a sliver upwardly from said receptacle containinga material sliver and intermittently introducing said sliver into saidsliver guide conduit, displacing said introduced sliver in said sliverguide conduit in a zig-zag or spiral condition in said sliver guideconduit while stopping temporarily for a variable time therein,continuously delivering said introduced sliver from a bottom aperture ofsaid sliver guide conduit with a predetermined constant delivery speedwhich is slower than the speed said sliver is introduced into saidsliver guide conduit.
 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein saidintermittent introduction of sliver is based upon the slipping of thesliver on said take up roller when a certain quantity of sliver istemporarily reserved in said sliver guide conduit.
 3. A method accordingto claim 1, wherein said intermittent introduction of sliver is carriedout by temporarily stopping the positive feeding of the sliver by saidtake up roller.
 4. A device for supplying sliver to each spinning unitof a spinning machine from a receptacle disposed behind or above saidspinning machinery by way of a sliver guide conduit disposed at aposition corresponding to each spinning unit comprising in combination,means for introducing said sliver into said sliver guide conduit at aspeed faster than the speed for delivering said sliver from said sliverguide conduit, said sliver guide conduit comprising a substantiallyupright portion provided with a top aperture for receiving said sliverthereinto and a substantially horizontal portion formed at a downstreamportion thereof and a curved portion for connecting said upright portionwith said horizontal portion, being said horizontal portion providedwith a bottom delivery aperture formed at a terminal thereof; wherebysmooth movement of said sliver from said upright portion toward saidaperture of said horizontal portion is disturbed by said curved portionand the continuous introduction of said slivEr into said guide conduitis temporarily disturbed.
 5. A device according to claim 4, furthercomprising means for temporarily interrupting the continuousintroduction of said sliver into said sliver guide conduit by saidintroducing means.
 6. A device according to claim 4, wherein saidintroducing means comprises a take up roller disposed above said sliverguide conduit which is continuously driven by a driving mechanism, at ahigher peripheral speed than the speed for feeding sliver into eachspinning unit.
 7. A device for according to claim 5, wherein saidtemporarily interrupting means comprises a plurality of curved sliverpassages formed in said upright portion of said sliver guide conduit sothat the smooth downward movement of the sliver introduced in saidconduit is interrupted and said introduced sliver is intermittentlyreserved on said interrupting means.
 8. A device according to claim 4,wherein said horizontal portion of the conduit is inclined slightlyupward so that said bottom delivery aperture is positioned above theupstream end of said horizontal portion of the conduit.
 9. A deviceaccording to claim 4, wherein said horizontal portion of said sliverguide conduit is provided with a piece turnably mounted on an upper edgeportion of said bottom delivery aperture so that said bottom aperture iscovered by said turn piece.
 10. A device according to claim 8, whereinsaid horizontal portion of said sliver guide conduit is turnablyconnected to a connecting bottom end portion of said upright portionthereof.
 11. A device according to claim 7, wherein said curved sliverpassages are a combined passage comprising pairs of a gentle slopedpassage and a steep sloped passage.
 12. A device according to claim 5,wherein said temporarily interruption means comprises a plurality ofinward projections formed on the inside wall of an upright portion ofsaid sliver guide conduit so that the lateral cross section of saidupright portion of said conduit is reduced.
 13. A device according toclaim 12, wherein the lateral cross section of said conduit is circularand each of said inward projections has the shape of an annularprojection formed in a concentric relationship with said upright portionof said conduit.
 14. A device according to claim 5, wherein said sliverguide conduit has a rectangular lateral cross section, said interruptingmeans comprises pairs of projections formed on the inside walls of saidconduit in such a way that one is formed on a first inside wall of saidconduit, while the other is formed on an inside wall facing said firstinside wall.
 15. A device according to claim 14, wherein said projectionhas a slope formed at upstream side of said conduit.
 16. A deviceaccording to claim 5, wherein all sliver guide conduits are formed by apair of guide plates extending along the lengthwise direction of saidspinning machine and facing each other, and a plurality of separationplates which divide the space formed by said guide plates into aplurality of sliver guide conduits for guiding each sliver introducedtherein to the respective spinning units, each of said sliver guideconduits is provided with a top aperture formed adjacent to saidintroducing means and with a bottom delivery aperture formed adjacentlybelow the respective spinning units, said interrupting means formed ineach of said sliver guide conduits is a plurality of pairs ofprojections projected from said guide plates or said separation platesso that a curved sliver passage is formed in each sliver guide conduit.17. A device according to claim 6, wherein said take up roller isprovided with an annular groove for forming a sliver passage.
 18. Adevice according to claim 4, further comprising control means forcontrolling the motion of said sliver introducing means.
 19. A deviceaccording to claim 18, wherein said sliver introducing means comprises abottom take up roller continuously driven by driving means mounted onsaid machine and a top Roller driven by frictional contact with saidbottom roller, said control means comprising a photoelectric detectordisposed at a top portion of each sliver guide conduit, said controlmeans releasing said frictional contact of said top roller with saidbottom take up roller when said photoelectric detector detects apredetermined sliver reserve condition in said conduit.
 20. A deviceaccording to claim 4, further comprising a pair of continuously rotatingwithdrawing rollers disposed at a position adjacent to and below saidspinning unit along a sliver passage between said bottom deliveryaperture of said sliver guide conduit and a feed mechanism of saidspinning unit.
 21. A device according to claim 20, wherein said sliverguide conduit comprises upright portions provided with a top aperturefor receiving said sliver, and a substantially horizontal portionpositioned below said spinning unit which is provided with a bottomdelivery aperture from where said sliver is delivered.